Luxor4u

Just in case anyone is thinking of visiting Spinneys Supermarket at City Stars Mall in Cairo - Spinneys is closed and there is now no supermarket in City Stars Mall

It's called an economic downturn, but thanks anyway for the information….

It also had to do with them selling rotten food. I went there only once and there were flies inside.

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/10/1 ... -spinneys/

And violent riots by employees:

http://primemag.me/behind-the-scenes-of ... et-crisis/

There were also disturbances outside the Hurghada Spinneys earlier this year (related to staff disputes).Although the "food" issues haven't had any ramifications here, it's sensible to check the dates on egg cartons carefully unless you're into the "1000 Year Old" variety Several people have also reported "odd smelling" fresh chicken.

Nothing to do with Spinneys, but I always check the date on the yoghourt served at breakfast. I know that it is the date of manufacture, but am surprised that the staff do not use stock in date order. Hatusa please note. Maybe guests are not expected to read Arabic numerals?

I also check the dates on grocery products such as tea and other infusions. Many are at least 2 years old!

I understand that some retailers are still trying to shift pre-revolution stock, but please, not to me!

Brian Yare wrote:I also check the dates on grocery products such as tea and other infusions. Many are at least 2 years old!

I understand that some retailers are still trying to shift pre-revolution stock, but please, not to me!

This is when out shopping, not in hotels, restaurants or bars. Shopping in Hurghada (which should have a greater turnover of stock) was just as bad in November.

Went for a 'big' shop in Spinneys in Hurghada last week before returning to Luxor. Came out with 5 things!! Higher prices, low stock and some empty shelves and a load of rubbish. The whole Senzo mall very quiet. No surprise there.. all the shops charging way too much. They had better watch out. Carrefour coming to Hurghada and centrally located.

Sdo wrote:Went for a 'big' shop in Spinneys in Hurghada last week before returning to Luxor. Came out with 5 things!! Higher prices, low stock and some empty shelves and a load of rubbish. The whole Senzo mall very quiet. No surprise there.. all the shops charging way too much. They had better watch out. Carrefour coming to Hurghada and centrally located.

Carrefour hasn't had any work on it for 2 years. Too many Metro Supermarkets in Hurghada for Spinneys to compete with. But Metro prices are high also. Kilo chicken breast 70 le.

I think that we would all be surprised at the amount of near/fully out of date food stuffs that are sold and bought by the less observant of us here. I have fallen 'foul' quite a few times. Not because I can't read Arabic but they are so badly printed. I have even had to take items back to our famous English store on occasions, sour milk, moldy processed cheese and more since it was taken over by an Egyptian. Regular checks and stock rotation is just not on their agenda sadly.

Dusak wrote:..... I have even had to take items back to our famous English store on occasions, sour milk, moldy processed cheese and more since it was taken over by an Egyptian. Regular checks and stock rotation is just not on their agenda sadly.

If that famous English store is the one with a delivery bike outside I was really shocked when I went in recently. I have only been in a couple of times over the years and then only because I was actually there in the street so it really was a convenience store, but I was never overly impressed. Going in the other week was a whole new experience. Shelves with more gaps than stock, chilled counter which I recall used to be for cheese, sliced meats and sandwich making was completely empty. The only section that had a large stock and some choice was the [Pampered] Pets section!

Most chain supermarkets here are overrated. Most have lower standards of cleanliness, freshness and higher prices than you will find at individually owned shops. After I recently saw the man in the deli at our local Kheir Zaman standing in his bare feet on the surface normally used for cutting up things in order to adjust some sign hanging from the ceiling I will not purchase anything from their deli anymore. That's just one of about a dozen reasons I limit my shopping there. They seem to work really hard at pushing you to want to shop anywhere else. They are convenient if you are too lazy to go around to different places to get what you need and sometimes have things you can't find elsewhere but chains here are really the crappiest places to shop. The Ahram Markets are probably the only exception to that but they tend to have a limited selection of goods but some are spotlessly clean that you could eat off the floor and the staff quite professional.

was in our local Kheir Zaman last night. Smell of rotten meat all through the shop. Bought nothing and left. Also saw a lady ask for a fresh chicken, then she sniffed it and left it on the counter. Its very worrying.. because even just before it gets to the smelly stage, its past being fit for consumption.

That is not a recent thing. They have absolutely no regard for the chill chain. Last Summer we went into KZ in Luxor and saw a trolley full of frozen chickens on the pavement having just been unloaded from the delivery truck. When we left the store about 25 minutes later they were still there in full sun with a puddle underneath!!
We never buy chilled or frozen in that store.

BBLUX wrote:That is not a recent thing. They have absolutely no regard for the chill chain. Last Summer we went into KZ in Luxor and saw a trolley full of frozen chickens on the pavement having just been unloaded from the delivery truck. When we left the store about 25 minutes later they were still there in full sun with a puddle underneath!!
We never buy chilled or frozen in that store.

At least it is easy to purchase chicken (and duck and rabbit) live, and process it oneself. I am not squeamish, and was brought up by farming stock.

Brian Yare wrote:

BBLUX wrote:That is not a recent thing. They have absolutely no regard for the chill chain. Last Summer we went into KZ in Luxor and saw a trolley full of frozen chickens on the pavement having just been unloaded from the delivery truck. When we left the store about 25 minutes later they were still there in full sun with a puddle underneath!!
We never buy chilled or frozen in that store.

At least it is easy to purchase chicken (and duck and rabbit) live, and process it oneself. I am not squeamish, and was brought up by farming stock.

What? You had animals as your guardians? This little piggy in the middle? Good job you didn't end up going to the market.